Review: Earth Alliance #1

Coming out of Future Earth Entertainment is the first issue of “Earth Alliance”, a sci fi epic in the making featuring the theme of interspecies tension in space as Earth encroaches on the Khutarri people’s claimed planets in the year of 2091. The chosen aesthetic for the piece has a fitting tone and vibe, harsh lines and heavy colors really fit the dramatic and tense tone of the issue.

The strength of the issue really stems from the initial focus on the Khutarri, and their response to Earth crossing into their territory, as well as why they value that unused territory; It’s relatable, and easy to grasp because it tends to be the typical Earthling approach to things in most other fantasy series – our usual justification for going to war, or debating it at least. While the trio of characters focused upon in these initial scenes feels a little stripped down to the bare necessary archetypes, it’s necessary, just something that I personally was aware of while reading it. It could have used an extra character in the scene just to round out the dialogue a bit.

Admittedly, for as much as I liked the first issue as a whole, the second focus in the book feels a bit too much like a scene I’ve watched and read too many times before; a rebellious son getting into trouble to spite his rigid military official father, winding up forced to make a hard call. While you can tell it wasn’t intentionally done, it just read a bit too close to Kirk’s behavior in the theatrical Star Trek reboot of recent years. Once I had that image in my head, that was all I could see. I want to reinforce though that it wasn’t a *bad* focus arc in the issue, just one that drew a parallel my brain couldn’t shake, making me wonder if more could have been done to separate and detach from easily drawn comparisons like that.

Overall, it was a solid first issue from a new publisher and I think it has a lot of potential; this particular issue however was shackled by the burden of too much necessary exposition. Focusing on just one end of the chaos to hook readers in might have been a stronger move; but beyond “pacing” the art is fantastic and the plot seems strong.